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European Economic and Trade Alliance
The European Economic and Trade Alliance (in French: Alliance commerciale et economique européenne; in Italian: Alleanza Economica e commerziale Europea; in Spanish: Alianza Economica y Comercial Europea; in German: Europäischen Wirtschafts-und Trade Alliance; in Portuguese: Aliança Económica e Comércial Europeia) is a major European trade and economic bloc. History Background After World War II, moves towards European integration were seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had devastated the continent. One such attempt to unite Europeans was the European Coal and Steel Community, in 1951. which was declared to be "a first step in the federation of European economies", starting with the aim of eliminating the possibility of further wars between its member states by means of pooling the national heavy industries. The founding members of the Community were Belgium, Euskadi, Italy (later Europa), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The originators and supporters of the Community included Paul-Henri Spaak, Ander Garitano Nieto and Alcide De Gasperi. Founding of the ETA By the late 1950s there was widespread support among ECSC members to introduce further economic agreements. There was also interest from the UK to join in this. In 1962 the historic Vienna Accord led to the founding of the ETA. European delegations consisting of Euskadi, Spain, Europa, Great Britain and West Germany met to crate a joint economic network and customs union, firstly to promote trade among the various member states. The Vienna accord resulted in the free flow of goods and capital among the member states and the reduction of tariffs, which were removed on 1 January 1969. One of the first important accomplishments of the EEC was the establishment (in 1965) of common price levels for agricultural products. The next round of new members occured in 1967 with Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria joining. In 1972 France joined the ETA, after the removal of De Gaulle and a new policy of economic liberalism. Portugal, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg joined in 1976, Monaco in 1982 and finally Andorra and Hungary in 1995. Members The ETA comprises 14 European nations. The member states of the ECU include Andorra, Austria, Benelux, West Bulgaria, Europa, Euskadi, France, West Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Greece, Cyprus and Turkey are presently in the process of joining the ETA Institutions of the ETA The EEC The European Economic Council (EEC) is a supranational parliament comprising a representative from each member state. The EEC's purpose is to collectively decide on policies and economic laws that would be implemented ETA-wide. The ECB The European Central Bank (ECB) is the institution of the ETA that administers the monetary policy of the 12 member states tied to the ECU. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The current President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Central bank of Europa. The ECU The European Currency Unit (ECU) is a proposed currency standard for all member nations introduced by the European Central Bank. It acts as a standard to which currencies are pegged, which facilities trade, currency exchange within the nations. The ECU is worth 0.666 Europan Lira, 7.95 French Francs, 1.955 West German marks, 244.66 Hungarian forint, 166.38 Spanish pesetas, 117.14 Eusko Pesetas and 200.48 Portuguese escudos. The United Kingdom and Liechtenstein have not decided to sign the ECU agreement so their currency is not pegged to the ECU. The ECU is also a step into introducing a unified currency, though there is not enough consensus to introduce one. The adoption of a single currency must be approved in a referendum by each member state's electorate. See also *Benelux *Europa *Euskadi *France Category:Organizations Category:European Economic and Trade Alliance Category:FW Storage